SEC fond of scheduling Sun Belt teams

SEC is 87-4 vs. Sun Belt, and FAU is 0-5 vs. the SEC

September 22, 2011

Since the Sun Belt conference joined then Division I-A as a football conference in 2001, it has been a favorite for SEC teams looking for non-conference opponents.

It's been a marriage of convenience, with SEC teams getting the revenue from a home game and almost always a win, while the cash-starved Sun Belt teams getting the current rate of about $1 million per game.

The SEC is 87-4 versus the Sun Belt and is likely to add another win Saturday when Auburn (2-1) hosts Florida Atlantic (0-2). The Owls are 0-5 versus the SEC, losing by a combined score of 228-62 or an average score of 45.6-12.4.

"We've gone into these games and taken our lumps and it is part of the process," FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger said about the money games FAU has played during Schnellenberger's 11 seasons as coach.

The SEC has been particularly tough on the Owls, who are 1-22 versus teams from the original BCS conferences, and 0-20 on the road.

But FAU is not alone. Troy, which has won or shared the last five Sun Belt titles, is 0-10 versus the SEC.

In fact, of the nine Sun Belt members, only two have won games. Only one, Louisiana-Monroe, has beaten one of the SEC's perennial powers. The Warhawks stunned Alabama 21-14 in 2007.

The other three Sun Belt wins came from Middle Tennessee, which beat SEC doormat Vanderbilt in 2001, 2002 and 2005. Vanderbilt has not scheduled a Sun Belt team since that last loss to the Blue Raiders.

FAU Athletic Director Craig Angelos likes scheduling in the SEC because they pay top dollar and are closer than many of the Sun Belt teams.

"It just makes sense for us," said Angelos, who has put Georgia and Auburn on the schedule next season, with FAU at Alabama in 2014 and at Florida in 2015.

As part of the financing deal for the $70 million stadium that opens on Oct. 15, FAU football has committed $1 million each year from money games, which means the Owls will be playing them for years to come.

Up to this point, the games have been played to help balance the athletic department's budget. That helped pave the way for the stadium.

"There is not a stadium over there if we do all the other things but don't play these games," Schnellenberger said.